Moffatt for the Win

The first time I interviewed Scott Moffatt was more than 12 years ago when he had decided to take on incumbent Coun. Glenn Brooks. Sure, he was new and he didn’t have all of his facts at hand. At that point, I’d been covering city hall off and on for more than 20 years. And though he was new, he still stands out in my memory as the strongest and most impressive newcomer I’ve interviewed.
He didn’t win, but came back four years later and earned the job of Rideau-Goulbourn councillor.

What’s to like about Moffatt? He doesn’t pander to nonsense – and he won’t tell his residents something that isn’t true just to make them happy or get elected. That on its own is pretty remarkable. I’ve seen him in action, at committee and city council meetings – and speaking at public meetings in his own ward. He’s a straight-shooter, even when his residents resisted the message. But he’s always there getting the best deal for the community he lives in.

Our politics are different, of course, he’s very much on the right. I’m there on occasion, depending on the issue!

And I’ve only seen him nervous once around the media – me specifically. It was at his first inaugural city council meeting – and Mayor Jim Watson’s first Tim Horton’s cookie and coffee celebration. Moffatt introduced me to his proud mother – who couldn’t help but confide in me the cookies were stale!

It’s a rarity to see Moffatt’s mug turn up on social media from being at any of the many social gatherings you’ll see other councillors at – his interests are in the ward.

His only challenger is Dave Brown, who used to work for Moffatt until he decided he’d try to take his boss’s job. That doesn’t sit quite right with me.

But the truth is, while Brown worked with Moffatt, he seems to have written his own playbook to woo the voters of Rideau-Goulbourn. And as is often the case with newcomers, he’s more than happy to promise to do with less. And he acted like he’d been the first to discover that a 2% tax increase every years adds up to more than 2% over four years.

“Where’s all that money going?” Brown demanded to know.

And he also demanded staff cuts continue so the city could provide more services. Just who is going to provide those services if said cuts continue? You want an ice rink without a zamboni driver?
Brown also went on a bit of a rant about the growing pile of garbage at Trail Rd., but didn’t seem to mention the rurals who receive the green bin program but have been resistant to it. To his credit, Brown did rightly point out this council has moved at a snail’s pace in dealing with its garbage crisis. He was bang on with that one. But it was just one.